Possibly getting an i7-980X setup for CHEAP

[TheCrimsonStar]

Ok so there is this member of clan TKC who is a PC enthusiast. He's the CFO of a packaging company that deals with the biggest corporations in the US, so he has money to toss around (he donated $200 out of the blue to TKC). Once the new Intel socket+cpus come out early next year, he is going to be selling his i7-980X, MSI 1366 Big Bang X Power Motherboard, and 12GB of Corsair Vengance 1600 DDR3 RAM. Normally this would go for $1500 online after tax + shipping. I told him I was interested and asked how much he would sell it for to the clan members. He said if he sold it right now, he would ask $700-$800. Given that the price of components drops rapidly (my first 4GB 1600 RAM module cost me $87 last November, a few weeks I got an identical one for $27 ), that price would most likely drop even more when he buys his new setup.

He also just sold a pair of lightly used EVGA GTX 570's to a clan leader for $400 yesterday. This guy has got some killer deals, and he said he only is giving those deals to the clan members. Just wanted to share on what I could VERY possibly be getting soon instead of a new mobo + i5-2500k.

 

[marfig]

Holly! The i7 alone can cost you more than that. Excellent deal, Crimson. Congrats.

That said, I don't know man. Are you going to take advantage of the hexa core? Because if this is mostly games you are aiming at with that machine, the 6 hype-threaded cores won't bring you any benefit since we are still not seeing the gaming industry moving in that direction. It may be a future proof machine you get there, but by the time 6 cores start to matter, the i7-980x will probably be already highly obsolete.

Worth alone, that's a great buy you get there. But investment-wise... dunno. I'd personally, with that money go for a top of the line i7-2600 + board. The processor goes for just a little over 300 USD, so you can imagine what you can do with the remaining 500.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

Actually, DICE has announced that BF3 is going to support multithreading (that's what it's called right?). Anyway, they said that hex-core users are going to be able to use their CPU's to their full potential with BF3. That being said, that's what brought me to being interested in this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even thought of getting this.

 

[Psi*]

This makes be think about auctioning off 2 of my systems ... versus just throwing things away in 3 or 4 years.

 

[marfig]

Crimson,

Games have been supporting multi-threading since... a long time, as i'm sure you no doubt know. BF3 interesting thing is not the fact it supports multi-threading. You see, if this game can saturate 4 cores I'd be really impressed and the whole gaming community would probably be really annoyed. The interesting bit is that the game will support hyper-threading. So with a quad-core that supports hyper-threading, you'll actually be playing with 8 threads, 4 of which running on virtual cores. That's more than enough for anything BF3 can throw at you.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

That's what I meant, hyperthreading. Gotta remember, I'm running AMD so I can't take advantage of that. They said something about how hex-core users will have full use of their CPU with this game as compared to others, I just can't find the tweet. I still will probably go for this system regardless of that...I've always wanted an i7-980X since they were released. And getting the CPU PLUS a motherboard and 12GB of ram for less than the price of the CPU alone? That's just awesome

 

[marfig]

At that price how can anyone blame you? Hell, you are getting the processor cheap and he's throwing in a top of the line motherboard and RAM for free!

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

At that price how can anyone blame you? Hell, you are getting the processor cheap and he's throwing in a top of the line motherboard and RAM for free!

I know right? I may have to bargain with him though...like 4 other clan members are interested. lol. We'll see....

 

[Rob Williams]

I hate to admit it, but with the looming launch of Intel's next-gen six-core parts, I'm not sure it's an excellent deal like it's made out to be. I'll be clear, it's not a bad deal per se, it's just not one that grabs me as being a "must buy". The problem with CPUs is that their real value goes down fast. The i7-990X might be $999, but for what reason is it so much better than an i7-2600K, which costs just $300? What will i7-990Xs sell for after Ivy Bridge's launch?

The i7-990X has two extra cores, but the i7-2600K could be easily overclocked to 4GHz to almost match it. The i7-990X is based off of an older architecture, while clock-for-clock, Sandy Bridge is faster. We're in an odd place, because Intel's highest-end parts are lacking compared to the Sandy Bridge ones in terms of features and architectures... but because six-cores are limited to the Nehalem derivatives, they carry the ultra-high premium.

This gives me an idea for a future article, but I am not going to mention it as competition does frequent our forums and has used our ideas in the past.

As for gaming, I am not confident that BF3 will make good use of those extra cores. There hasn't been a game released thus far to my knowledge that even manages to make good use of four. It might use all four, but where the benefit is, I'm not sure.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

Yeah I know what you mean there Rob...which is also why the guy who's selling these said the price is not set in stone, and is prone to adjustment once Ivy Bridge is released. He'll most likely drop it even more once Ivy is released, and it could still possibly be worth it. Like I said, we'll see about it...I'm not dead set on buying this, it was just a good possibility.

As for BF3, it uses a brand new engine that's supposed to be the most advanced gaming engine ever created, and DICE has always kept their word in terms of performance with their games...so I'm sure they have something in store for BF3 with hex-cores.

 

[Kougar]

Still an excellent price there... the 980X alone sells for $800 on ebay last I'd looked, prices for Extreme branded CPUs doesn't decline as sharply as non-Extreme parts.

Sandy Bridge isn't a whole lot faster, the difference is pretty minimal and the additional memory bandwidth the 980X has helps keep it even. I'd easily keep my own 980X for several more years if I wasn't chained to such a problematic/outdated motherboard... problem is I want UEFI and Intel 6Gbps controllers. Darn tough decisions.

 

[Rob Williams]

As for BF3, it uses a brand new engine that's supposed to be the most advanced gaming engine ever created, and DICE has always kept their word in terms of performance with their games...so I'm sure they have something in store for BF3 with hex-cores.

That's true, but I'd still like to see what the real-world result would be. No developer can make it so that the AI is smarter on a six-core vs. a quad-core, so where is the benefit to be had? Certain aspects might load faster, or at least execute faster, but in an MP game, I don't see that happening in an important way.

More often than not it seems raw frequency is what improves a game in some way. I am just wondering how a game like BF3 would make better use of a six-core than a quad-core. Maybe overall it'd just spread itself across the entire CPU better so as to not cap any of the threads.

Sandy Bridge isn't a whole lot faster, the difference is pretty minimal and the additional memory bandwidth the 980X has helps keep it even.

Outside of Folding@home and synthetic benchmarks, in which way does X58's beefier memory bandwidth level the playing field?

 

[marfig]

As if they knew we were having this debate, Tom's Hardware just published a very interesting article that should help make a decision here. I think it also shows the qualities of the Sandy Bridge line in comparison with the Gulftown line. If you have no reason to suspect Tom's Hardware synthetic benchmarks and general tone of the article, I'd urge you to reconsider this purchase, Crimson. It's very likely you will come to regret it very soon. Do remember that whatever you may expect from the 980x, the Sandy Bridge equivalents will come more powerful and at a fraction of the price. It's already too late to be charmed by the Gulftown extreme edition. Move on buddy.

More often than not it seems raw frequency is what improves a game in some way. I am just wondering how a game like BF3 would make better use of a six-core than a quad-core. Maybe overall it'd just spread itself across the entire CPU better so as to not cap any of the threads.

I think that's it basically. Meanwhile BF3 recommended system requirements haven't been release yet. And because we are so close to the release date that's a good hint this won't be a surprise. A quad core is all that the game will almost surely make any realistic use of. Hyper-threading will be a bonus, but only to spread out workload, as you say, not to go over any hypothetical limitation in performance on higher settings. That could anger a lot of people, I reckon.

In fact I think there are other type of games that could make a much better use of 6 cores. FPS are just not them. Strategy games could.

 

[DarkStarr]

Ummm.... FYI, an OCed 2600k can hit 4.8 in nothing flat, with a bit of tweaking. A 2600k can hit 4.5 with pretty much no adjustments. Also... in pretty much anything memory related, X58 gets owned with an OCed 2600k and just 1600 ram, imagine how it would be with ~2000 ram.

Anyways, that said, not a bad price but for around the same you could get a 2600k a nice P67 board and 16gb of ram. I would say, at least for me since I have a MC near its not worth it since prices are better.
2600k = $280
EVGA P67 SLi Micro = $130
Asus P8P67 PRO = $180
2x4gb Kit Corsair XMS3 1600 = $90 or x2 kits = $180

So the 2600k, Asus board, and 16gb ram its $640 before tax.
Therefore, IMO not worth it HERE, prices may be quite different near you. (Also TBH I wanted to get that EVGA board lol, I wanna see my board floating in my HAF X with a 480 eating it )

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

hahahaha I'll bet you wanna see that 480 eating it After reading the article Marfig posted I'm not as enthusiastic as I was about getting this..probably going back to my original idea about getting an i5-2500k and an Asus Sabertooth mobo. Considering Newegg just sent out promo codes for the 2500k making it $204.99 and free shipping...I may go ahead and buy the i5 and sell my old subwoofers then get the asus board I already have 8GB of RAM that works with the board I want, so that's not an issue. I may buy an aftermarket cooler too soon afterwards.

That was my original plan btw, this isn't spontaneous

*EDIT*

Just bought the i5-2500k. That sale finalized it for me. Gonna get the Asus board before BF3 comes out next month

 

[marfig]

When you get the Sabertooth, let us know so I can hate you.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

When you get the Sabertooth, let us know so I can hate you.

Will do